Happy New Year 2023, Y'all!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023, Y'ALL!  ~  As y'all can see in my New Years Day 2017 post below, America knew we were looking forward to better times, for on January 20, 2017, President Trump was taking the helm of America and would guide our Ship of State toward prosperity and better times.

But as in Biblical days, when God's people made bad choices, they paid the consequences.  America has been paying a heavy price since Joe Biden walked into the Oval Office in January 2021 - and we will continue to suffer for the bad choice of electing Democrats in 2020. 

However, a bit of light at that end of the tunnel begins in 2023 when Conservatives take control of the House of Representatives - and will come to full fruition in January 2025 when both the White House and Congress once again don their Robes of Conservative Red.

That said, let me share a wee bit of Southern Tradition which stems from bad choices Americans made which led to a bloody 4-year Civil War between 1861 and 1865.  Then on April 15, 1865, crazed Democratic sympathizers assassinated President Lincoln - making repatriation of Southern states back into the Union a nightmare for all the South. 

Upon Lincoln's death, Vice President Johnson, a very weak and wimpy Democrat, became president.  Sound familiar?  Does that remind anyone of another vice president who became president in 2021?

And because of the hardships brought on by the horrible 4-year Civil War, life in the South was very hard.  In their own way, they celebrated the prosperity Southerners knew would return - and did get better after Republican President Grant took office.

So to continue our history lesson born from those hard times, I invite y'all to join us in a Southern Style New Years Day Meal, all y'all!

Here is the menu and the reason behind this Southern New Years celebration:

BLACK-EYED PEAS:  The tradition of eating black-eyed peas dates back to the Civil War.  When General William T. Sherman led his Union troops on a destructive march through the South, the fields of black-eyed peas were left untouched because they were deemed fit only for animals. 

As a result, the humble yet nourishing black-eyed pea crops saved surviving Confederates from starvation.  The peas are said to represent coins.

GREENS:  Greens represent wealth and paper money, as they are flat and green like U.S. currency.  Any greens will do, but in the South the most popular are collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, and cabbage.

PORK:  Throughout history, owning pigs and livestock was a symbol of prosperity.  So today pork is eaten in the hopes of prosperity and a bountiful harvest in the coming year. 

CORNBREAD:  Cornbread symbolizes gold and is used for soaking up the pot likker from the greens.  After the Civil War, when wheat was a rarity in the region, Southerners made cornbread a regular meal staple.  Note:  Pot likker is the aftermath of long simmered greens, used in the South to dunk cornbread.

And the whole world knows that "Y'all" is the proper way to address any individual - not "You guys" or even worse "Youse guys."  And the simple expansion of "Y'all" when addressing a group of people is - "All y'all."  

See how simple it is to learn to speak Southern?  So on your next visit to the South and your hostess summons, "All y'all come on to eat" - that means "all y'all" are included.

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Bill Gray shared on January 1, 2017:

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL! ~ Down South we have two religions: God and BAMA Football, in that order - at least, for most folks.  Both are very special to us - and both have been very good to us.

So, let's thank God for this blessed New Year - and for the promise of new prosperity, peace, and unity for all Americans, starting on January 20, 2017.

And, on January 9, 2017, we will cheer BAMA on to victory.

God bless and Happy New Year,

Bill 

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